Political Quotes

“It boils down to the issue of trust. I was specifically told by the Justice Department that the Uighurs from Guantanamo Bay would not be released. We had a meeting in my office. The White House was there. They were all there. They said they will not be released. We got a call from somebody in the administration who called us to say that the helicopters are getting ready and leaving Guantanamo. And, by the way, they have leased an apartment at Seven Corners. These were three people who had been picked up at Tora Bora in a camp. I understand. I mean, if we could work this thing out, I would be happy. So when you see the veto message, as the gentlelady from Tennessee said, the concern is that they will just blink and come and go. But they looked me directly in the eye and said: We will not release these inmates. And then had I not gotten that telephone call--and, quite frankly, I think this person who stopped them from being released was the current mayor of Chicago, to his credit. And so that is the concern we have. There needs to be a basic trust that if somebody says something, there is absolutely no question that that is the word and it will never happen. But I thank the gentleman for his comments.”